Partial purification of tumour-specific transplantation antigens from methylcholanthrene-induced murine sarcomas by immobilized lectins.

Plasma membranes isolated from two immunogenic, non-cross-protecting, MC sarcomas were shown to retain the specific rejection antigens of whole cells as well as serologically detected H-2 antigens. Solubilization of the membranes with sodium deoxycholate gave quantitative release of H-2 and retained the rejection specificity of the tumour from which it was derived. Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE) showed no extensive degradation of membrane components during solubilization. The solubilized TSTAs were further characterized and purified on columns of 4 different lectins immobilized on sepharose beads. TSTA from both tumours bound to WGA but not to Con A, LCH or RCA columns. Specific activity was retained after elution from the WGA column. Serologically detectable H-2 bound to the Con A and LCH columns only. Clear separation of H-2 from TSTA activity was thus obtained. Furthermore the WGA-binding material represents a source for further purification of TSTA molecules in order to explore the basis for their diversity

ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC SYNERGISM IN THE IMMUNE RESPONSE OF IRRADIATED MICE GIVEN MARROW CELLS AND PERITONEAL CAVITY CELLS OR EXTRACTS

A synergistic immune response to foreign erythrocytes may be induced in heavily irradiated mice injected with a mixture of isologous cells obtained from marrow and from the peritoneal cavity. Under appropriate conditions, homologous or heterologous peritoneal cavity cells, heat-killed cells, or cellfree extracts made from such cells are also effective. The activity of the peritoneal cavity cells or extracts is antigen-specific, in the sense that cells or extracts obtained from animals previously immunized with the test antigen produce much stronger synergistic effects than do cells from animals immunized with some other antigen; however, the peritoneal cavity cells or extracts are not immunogenic when tested in primed animals. The marrow cells, demonstrated to contain precursors of the antibody-forming cells produced during this synergistic immune response, also show a form of antigen-specificity

Cross-Cultural Understanding of Health Assessments for People with Intellectual Disability: An Australian resource in the Philippines

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has resulted in the involvement of high income countries in international development assistance to people with disabilities in low and middle income countries.  Healthcare tools designed in high income countries and delivered in low and middle income countries may not be appropriate to the context of the lives of people with disabilities.  We undertook a short qualitative study of participants’ views of an Australian-designed comprehensive health assessment tool, with participation from a WHO-Collaborating non-government organisation in regional Philippines. We also examined the participants’ perceptions of the barriers to healthcare for Filipinos with intellectual disabilities.  Responses to the comprehensive health assessment tool were positive although participants agreed that both linguistic and cultural translation would enhance wider use of the tool. The barriers identified included poverty, family isolation, stigma and communication issues as preventing appropriate healthcare delivery to Filipinos with intellectual disability. Consideration must be given to the complexities of transference of healthcare resources to a low and middle income country context, as well as the systemic and cultural barriers to appropriate healthcare provision to people with disabilities

Long-lived space observatories for astronomy and astrophysics

NASA's plan to build and launch a fleet of long-lived space observatories that include the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO), the Advanced X Ray Astrophysics Observatory (AXAF), and the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) are discussed. These facilities are expected to have a profound impact on the sciences of astronomy and astrophysics. The long-lived observatories will provide new insights about astronomical and astrophysical problems that range from the presence of planets orbiting nearby stars to the large-scale distribution and evolution of matter in the universe. An important concern to NASA and the scientific community is the operation and maintenance cost of the four observatories described above. The HST cost about $1.3 billion (1984 dollars) to build and is estimated to require$160 million (1986 dollars) a year to operate and maintain. If HST is operated for 20 years, the accumulated costs will be considerably more than those required for its construction. Therefore, it is essential to plan carefully for observatory operations and maintenance before a long-lived facility is constructed. The primary goal of this report is to help NASA develop guidelines for the operations and management of these future observatories so as to achieve the best possible scientific results for the resources available. Eight recommendations are given

Selective electrochemical generation of benzylic radicals enabled by ferrocene-based electron-transfer mediators

The use of ferrocene mediators offers significant advantages over direct electrolysis in the generation and functionalization of radicals from benzylboronates.</p

Clinical use of HIV integrase inhibitors : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Optimal regimen choice of antiretroviral therapy is essential to achieve long-term clinical success. Integrase inhibitors have swiftly been adopted as part of current antiretroviral regimens. The purpose of this study was to review the evidence for integrase inhibitor use in clinical settings. Methods: MEDLINE and Web-of-Science were screened from April 2006 until November 2012, as were hand-searched scientific meeting proceedings. Multiple reviewers independently screened 1323 citations in duplicate to identify randomized controlled trials, nonrandomized controlled trials and cohort studies on integrase inhibitor use in clinical practice. Independent, duplicate data extraction and quality assessment were conducted. Results: 48 unique studies were included on the use of integrase inhibitors in antiretroviral therapy-naive patients and treatment-experienced patients with either virological failure or switching to integrase inhibitors while virologically suppressed. On the selected studies with comparable outcome measures and indication (n = 16), a meta-analysis was performed based on modified intention-to-treat (mITT), on-treatment (OT) and as-treated (AT) virological outcome data. In therapy-naive patients, favorable odds ratios (OR) for integrase inhibitor-based regimens were observed, (mITT OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.59-0.86). However, integrase inhibitors combined with protease inhibitors only did not result in a significant better virological outcome. Evidence further supported integrase inhibitor use following virological failure (mITT OR 0.27; 95% CI 0.11-0.66), but switching to integrase inhibitors from a high genetic barrier drug during successful treatment was not supported (mITT OR 1.43; 95% CI 0.89-2.31). Integrase inhibitor-based regimens result in similar immunological responses compared to other regimens. A low genetic barrier to drug-resistance development was observed for raltegravir and elvitegravir, but not for dolutegravir. Conclusion: In first-line therapy, integrase inhibitors are superior to other regimens. Integrase inhibitor use after virological failure is supported as well by the meta-analysis. Careful use is however warranted when replacing a high genetic barrier drug in treatment-experienced patients switching successful treatment